This post is not really about flipped classrooms, but it still seems blogworthy.

I have been thinking a for the past 2 weeks about What My Students Must Learn Before the Year Ends. True, there are still 3 months of school and winter is not yet done with us.

Still, mid-March is the time to think about long-range curriculum pacing. One major topic that I decided to prioritize is media literacy, particularly students' ability to distinguish factual statements from opinionated statements. This seems really important in 2018 when we have "alternative facts" and moral relativism from all levels of society (and government!) muddying the waters. I have tried and failed at teaching this concept in the past, so I need a new approach. After consulting multiple sources, including most helpfully this Auburn professor's webpage, and several drafts of efforts scrawled in my notebook... I have developed this 4-part set of definitions:

These distinctions accomplish several goals:

This shows why facts and personal opinions can seem & sound so similar: in some ways they are! [right column]

It separates the statements that we CAN debate from those that are undebatable. We waste so much time and effort disputing other people's personal opinions. That will not change somebody's mind!

I also wanted to separate valid claims from external judgments (which involve some logic but are essentially opinionated).

Readers, what do you think? Am I missing something important? Have I mischaracterized any statements?(I deliberately left out statements like exaggerations, lies, mistakes, and other inaccuracies. But how would you fit them into the system?)

BTW, I applied my own system to a speech by Donald Trump by highlighting sentences according to the color codes in the chart. Does this seem correct?

The US Government unit is always my greatest challenge of the school year. It's the anomaly of my 1750s-1860s curriculum, when we must push the Pause button on historical narrative and shift to political science for a few weeks. I recently learned that the Massachusetts Frameworks will likely change soon to make a full-year civics course in 8th grade, which sounds great to me! This shoehorned unit will bust out and breathe at last. The flip-side is that I expect those changes will come with a new standardized test -- right now there is very little external pressure on me to teach any specific topics or concepts. (Frequent blog readers will be quite familiar with the internal pressures I put on myself!)

I had a set of Constitution videos from 3 winters ago which I recycled in 2016 and 2017. They were revolutionary vids at the time: I used the "movie credits" feature of iMovie to display key words of text while I spoke to the camera:

However, I fell out of love with these videos quite quickly. Most importantly, students' assessment results were disappointing. I tried to blame snow days, midwinter mood, disinterest in government, and other factors ... but ultimately had to point most blame at myself and my teaching decisions.

So I knew that I wanted to make a new video set, but that also involved re-designing the whole unit. What do I really need students to know? I can never escape the fact that there are some specific facts that my 8th graders really need to absorb and retain for effective citizenship:

basics about the presidency, like length of term and aspects of his/her job

the two bodies of Congress, and what they can do

checks and balances: what that means & how it works

differences between the 2 main political parties

Those are the main topics of this unit's videos for 2018. I always call them "Need2Know" assignments, and that seems even more appropriate now! I have tried to keep the information basic but relevant, so we can delve deeper into these topics with class discussions. Yes, I want students to memorize the length of terms* for senators, representatives, and the president because that is important general knowledge. BUT in class we discussed the effects of those differences: senators can last longer than presidents ... maybe that makes them more powerful than the chief executive!* 6, 2, and 4 years respectively

I also worked harder to make this video set more entertaining, like pretending to do weight lifting while I describe the House of Reps [get it? hahahaha]

Too soon to judge the actual effectiveness of these choices because I haven't fully assessed students' understanding. But I do feel better about this unit already, and that counts for something!

Who is this flipping guy?!

Andrew Swan just finished year 18 of teaching middle school (currently 8th-grade US History/Govt in a Boston suburb). Previously he has taught 6th, 7th, and 8th grade English, ancient history, & geography in Maine and in Massachusetts. This was Andrew's 5th year of flipping all direct instruction, so we have more class time for simulations, deep discussions, analyzing primary sources ... and also to promote mastery for students at all levels. His 8th-grade daughter, 10th-grade son, and wonderful wife all indulge Andrew's blogging, tweeting, & other behaviors. These include co-moderating the #sschat Twitter sessions and Facebook page. ​Andrew does not always refer to himself in the third-person. Twitter: @flipping_A_tchrInstagram: aswan802